Woodfield Village Senior Housing along Cardinal Lane in Howard is one of the first buildings constructed in the area with a town-center theme. Corey Wilson/Press-Gazette

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Multimedia Graphic: Emerging downtowns

What is a comprehensive plan? Comprehensive plans provide communities with information and policies that will guide future planning and community decisions. They incorporate a 20-year vision and provide a rational basis for land-use decisions. Because communities vary greatly, the uniqueness of individual comprehensive plans reflects community-specific and locally driven processes. The state's Smart Growth law, passed in the 1999 to 2001 budget, requires that all communities by 2010 pass a comprehensive plan. Source: Department of Administration

On The Net Village of Suamico town center plan: www.suamico.org. Click on "What's New" and then "Town Center Plan" Village of Howard village center plan: www.villageofhoward.com. Click on "Departments," choose Planning and click on "Forms and Documents" Brown County Comprehensive plans: www.co.brown.wi.us/Planning/comprehensive_plans.html

Growth spurs desire for 'town centers'

By Malavika Jagannathan
mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com

Cradled in the Brown County B and U.S. 41 intersection, the future Suamico village center is by all accounts in its infancy — a couple of new buildings and a lot of construction is all you'll see.

But in a decade or two, this sleepy corner of the village is on the road to become its "town center" — a place to shop, eat, relax and gather.

Suamico isn't alone in exploring this concept — hundreds of suburban communities across the country and closer to home have similar plans for town centers or downtowns in an effort to give residents the benefits of urban areas.

On Sept. 13, the Bellevue Village Board adopted its comprehensive plan, including a project that calls for a 500-acre commercial district area along Brown County GV and Wisconsin 172.

But these downtowns aren't the dense high-traffic spots that grew out of economic necessity in cities at the turn of the century. Instead, they combine retail, commercial, residential and recreation elements to tap into the needs and wants of a newer type of community, one that is more health-conscious and gasoline-conscious.

"The irony is that in the face of the kind of sprawling development we've done, more people are looking for places of vitality," said Tom Murphy, senior research fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. "They're harking back to the town green — a sense of community."

As many former bedroom communities continue growing — Suamico and Bellevue are two of the fastest-growing areas in the state — offering both neighborhood businesses and gathering places is almost an expectation as much as it is a necessity.

"The community is growing — when we came it was all country, but you have to get used to it," said Lois Larscheid, a longtime resident of Suamico. "Places to be outside and walk around to shop would be nice."

Smart growth

Some of the interest in downtown or neighborhood center development in Wisconsin can be attributed to the state's "smart growth" mandate, an attempt to curtail urban sprawl.

The initiative — passed in the 1999 to 2001 state budget — requires all communities to pass a comprehensive plan. In Brown County, only four communities have not passed a plan, but even those municipalities are in the process of creating one, said Cole Runge, principal planner for Brown County.

"The state law identified 14 comprehensive planning goals … and these centers all help to accomplish those goals," Runge said. The mandates include providing facilities for people to get around on various modes of transportation, improving aesthetics, creating a public or civic space.

Bellevue — whose population jumped from 11,828 in 2000 to 14,467 in 2005 — is at the formation stages of its plan, which it hopes will create a cohesive commercial center. The plan will build out of the area that houses the Target and Copps Food Center on Lime Kiln Road.

"We're no small player," said Bellevue Administrator Randy Friday. "The location sells itself, and we just have to make sure this is a step up from average."

The plan envisions a pedestrian-friendly area with the possibility of trails and pedestrian bridges linking the area to the village's external trails, Friday said.

That's one of the ways this new suburban downtown differs from its predecessor — density is not a priority, but greenery and recreation are.

"These are more lifestyle centers than anything," Murphy said. "It's part of a trend of creating places … that engage people."

After adopting their respective comprehensive plans, both Howard and Suamico went one step further and adopted plans dealing specifically with their village centers. Both plans emphasize green space.

In Howard, Meadowbrook Park borders the center area, and trails will eventually run through the center to the park. Likewise, trails along the river will connect to the village center in Suamico.

"People are looking for walking accessibility, biking and trail development," said Karen Matze, Suamico administrator. "I don't know if this is the gasoline crunch or people's health consciousness."

A smaller version of cities

Of course, community doesn't come cheap. Building up a downtown requires millions from independent investors and infrastructure developments by the municipality. Both Howard and Suamico have leaned toward tax-increment financing to help boost financial growth in their village centers.

Thanks to this tool, which freezes property taxes in an area for a period of time in an effort to spur growth, Howard expects $65 million in development and Suamico $38 million over the next 10 to 15 years. Much of the investment is also homegrown with local developers taking the plunge.

Whereas Bellevue's commercial center plan does include some "big box" tenants such as Copps and Target, the emphasis in many suburban centers is on neighborhood markets and specialty stores.

"They largely complement what is in established cities," Runge said. "Creating a smaller version of what cities are."

And most residents want those nearby amenities, although they also want to see the suburban or rural elements of the communities preserved.

"There's a difference from when we moved from Green Bay — there isn't much here," said Char St. Amand, who moved to Howard a year ago. "But it's a great community, so it would be good to have something to keep us here."

Some, like the town of Cedarburg near Milwaukee, have capitalized on the historic element of the city and created a quaint retail and restaurant area. Others, like Naperville, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, have become competitive with its bigger neighbor, according to the International Downtown Association.

In fact, it was Cedarburg's example that inspired Suamico's "Historic Hamlet," a part of the village center that will draw on the area's history as a railway station and trading post, Matze said.

"I envision that to be the small service shopping area, the place to go to get a cup of coffee … a destination you go to get specialized item or for lunch," Matze said about Suamico's village center.

The door is wide open on what type of businesses will occupy Bellevue's center as long as they keep a unified look and feel, Friday said.

"The idea is for people to really see Bellevue," Friday said. "It's a destination and there's nothing on the east side that will be comparable."